This attractive disc is quite simply a guided tour
of four of the royal courts of Europe of the renaissance. The Rozmberk
Consort as represented on this 1993 disc is a most accomplished group
of period players, eight of them, plus their director, who play here
more than twenty-five different instruments between them. Libor Zidek,
as well as playing the chamois horn, the crumhorn, the string drum and
other percussion instruments, also provides the vocal part to the four
sung pieces.
The tour begins in London at the court of Elizabeth
I. The music of Anthony Holborne, first on the disc, is very engaging
indeed. A lovely Pavane which begins with a beautifully played passage
for harp is followed by a lively Galliard featuring recorders. Heigh-ho
Holiday is a short piece which alternates not only quick dance rhythms
with slower, more reflective passages but also the instrumental combinations
that go with them. And to judge from the piece named after him the night
watch must have been a very jolly chap indeed, represented here by shrill,
brilliantly played recorders.
The rest of the English contribution comprises two
lovely pieces in two parts, much of the music imitative in nature, by
Morley, and two delicate, touching pieces by Henry VIII, both featuring
the harp. The final piece, a rousing song by Dowland accompanied by
crumhorns and recorders, will surprise those expecting a lute-song transcription
in the composer’s habitual melancholy vein.
The music to be heard at the French Court in Paris
at this time was quite different, by all accounts, from what was taking
place in London: quite startlingly so on this disc, in fact, where the
first of two Pavanes by Attaignant features the xylophone, an instrument
I have never heard used in music of this period. All four short pieces
by this composer are full of delicate charm. The first of the pieces
by Claude Gervaise treats us to the sound of the bombard, but the second,
even more strikingly, the hurdy-gurdy, an instrument whose name perfectly
conjures up its sound, a kind of mad, undisciplined bagpipes. The same
piece features the fearsome sound of the string drum: this is quite
unlike anything I have ever heard and you will have to buy this disc
– recommended – if you want to know what I mean by fearsome. Certon,
Janequin and de Sermisy are represented by their chansons, taken, in
the case of the quicker pieces, at speeds much more steady than we are
used to. One of the Certon chansons introduces the noble sound of the
serpent, an instrument still in use in English parish churches in Hardy’s
time. Only de Sermisy’s Tant que je vivrai is sung, the others
being given in instrumental versions.
Passing to what was on offer in the literally hundreds
of royal courts littered throughout the German lands, the first piece
is a striking bagpipes and crumhorns offering from Praetorius which
really is splendidly sonorous and impressive, quite the opposite of
the intimate harpsichord piece which follows which is played on an instrument
built in the workshops of the director of this collection, Frantisek
Pok. The selection closes with a rousing drinking song and even with
my rudimentary German I can hear, in the absence of printed texts, that
the virtues of drinking wine for health reasons are being extolled.
Nothing new there, then.
The Rozmberk Consort take their name from the musicians
who entertained at the Rozmberk Court in southern Bohemia in the second
half of the sixteenth century. Curiously, of the royal courts included
in this survey, only here were the musicians imported, mainly from the
Italian lands, rather than home grown. The recital therefore ends with
a number of short pieces by Italian composers, including some engaging
dance music by Bendusi, a new name to me, some music for positive organ
as beautifully written as it is played here, and a striking piece by
Banchieri featuring the cornett.
There is a short accompanying essay which serves as
an introduction but little more, and more useful is the list of instruments
used along with the pieces in which they appear. The titles of the pieces
are listed on the back of the box in a kind of tiny italic script which
is not easy to read. The whole collection is exceptionally well played
and recorded. Only in the case of the harpsichord did I find the sound
of the instrument – though certainly not the playing – rather limited.
The music itself is well chosen, varied and extremely enjoyable, To
what extent the purists, or those particularly well versed in the music
and performing practices of this period, will find it authentic I wouldn’t
like to say, but it all sounds very convincing to me, except in one
respect. The technical mastery these players possess leads to music
making which is at once brilliant and particularly sonorous. There is
a richness to the sound which is rare in even the best period groups,
and if those who listened at Europe’s princely courts in the sixteenth
century were treated to artistry like this they were lucky indeed.
William Hedley
Rozmberk Consort, Prague,
directed by Frantisek Pok 